Jocón de Pollo – Easy Guatemalan Chicken Stew

Jocón (pronounced HO-con) is one of the most popular traditional stews of Guatemala. The generous handfuls of cilantro, scallions, tomatillos and green jalapeno chiles really make this emerald green dish shine. Pollo en Jocón also known as Jocón de Pollo is one of the easiest Guatemalan food recipes to make. It’s perfect as an everyday dinner yet special enough to be a guaranteed crowd pleaser when entertaining.

History of Jocón de Pollo – Chicken and Tomatillo Stew

JocÃ³n is easy to make, delicious and low in fat!

Jocón (also known as Pollo en Jocón) is a recado, a style of meal that’s one of the foundations of traditional Guatemalan Mayan cuisine. A recado is typically a thick stew made with a sauce. It’s often cooked over an open fire in an outdoor stove in the highlands of Guatemala. While the smokiness of the fire does add a special taste to Guatemalan dishes, most urban cooks prepare their stews and soups (caldos) on a stove top.

No matter whether they’re prepared over an open fire or a stovetop, Guatemala’s traditional soups and stews take full advantage of the fabulous fresh ingredients found in the country’s outdoor markets. Vendors deliver seasonal vegetables, fruit and herbs grown in the fertile valleys fresh to the markets each day.

Fresh produce for sale in the mercado central of Antigua, Guatemala

While not quite as famous as other recados such as pepian, kak’ik, revolcado or even pulique, pollo en jocón is a unique dish that’s a welcome change from the mostly tomato and achiote based sauces of other Guatemalan chicken recipes. It’s also low in fat and gluten- free.

There are countless variations and versions of recipes for Jocón Guatemalteco. This version is my favourite and is the one my sister-in-law in Guatemala City makes most often. According to Copeland Marks in his cookbook “False Tongues and Sunday Breads” this variation of jocón hails from Huehuetenango, home to the highland Mam Mayan community, known for their fine weavings in magenta and violet hues.

Ingredients for Jocón Guatemalteco – Chicken Verde Stew

This recipe for jocón is similar to Chicken in Salsa Verde a popular dish in Mexico. But it has a nutty depth of flavour drawn from toasted pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds. Those two magical ingredients make jocón a deliciously memorable Guatemalan dish.

Ingredients for Jocon Guatemalateco

The other main ingredient in jocón is tomatillo, also known as miltomate or a husk tomato in Mexico, Guatemala and the rest of Latin America.

Can you eat tomatillos raw? Tomatillos are most often seen in salsa verdes such as our recipe for Salsa Verde by the Mexykan but are almost always served cooked, or, at minimum charred, as they are too acidic and tart to be eaten raw. Wash them before using to get rid of the sticky covering beneath the papery husk.

Note: Be sure to remove the papery husks (or lanterns) of the tomatillo before cooking as they are toxic.

Tomatillos are known as miltomate in Guatemala and Mexico

If you can’t find fresh tomatillos in your grocery store, canned tomatillos are a good substitute. La Costeña is a popular brand of Mexican canned products and is even available for purchase via Amazon online. If you use canned tomatillos, drain them and reduce the amount of salt in the recipe as salt has already been added. You can use them straight from the can without cooking as they have already been simmered.

If you want to make sure you always have a supply of tomatillos on hand, consider planting some seeds in a container or your home garden. They are very easy to grow and are prolific, with each plant producing lots of tomatillos quite early in the growing season. You can even order tomatillo seeds online.

How to Make Pollo en Jocón – Step by Step Instructions

This easy Guatemalan recipe follows the usual method for a recado which involves simmering the meat and then adding a sauce. It’s so much easier and healthier than many other chicken recipes where you need to brown the chicken in a frying pan first. This Guatemalan recipe has no vegetable oil at all!

Step 1. Cook the Chicken in Water

Begin by poaching the chicken in water with salt until it is fully cooked and tender. Bring chicken, water and salt to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Step 2. Toast the Seeds in a Skillet

Toast the pepitas ( pumpkin) and sesame seeds in a dry skillet until browned

Pepitas are slightly plumper than the shelled pumpkin seeds eaten as a snack in North America (and they also have more flavour) but you can use substitute pumpkin seeds for pepita in this recipe.

Toast the seeds and continue stirring until lightly browned.

Step 3. Grind the Seeds into a Fine Powder

Then, grind the seeds to a fine powder. Use a coffee grinder if you don’t have a spice grinder if your food processor or blender won’t process it finely. The finished seed mixture is known as pepitoria.

Grind the pepitoria and seeds finely

Step 4. Prepare the Tomatillos

Simmer the peeled and washed fresh tomatillos in water for 20 minutes until tender. If you’re using canned tomatillos you can skip ahead to the next step.

Step 5. Process the Tomatillos, Seeds and Herbs into a Sauce

Add the seed mixture, corn tortillas ripped into pieces, cooked or canned tomatillos, cilantro, scallions and chile peppers to a food processor. Add 1 cup of the reserved broth and process until smooth.

Process the ingredients with one cup of reserved broth to make a recado for jocon

Step 6. Combine the Green Sauce with Cooked Chicken and Simmer

Return the reserved chicken to the pot. Pour the pureed sauce over the chicken and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the remaining broth to give it a sauce-like consistency.

Simmer the chicken in the jocon sauce until thickened

Simmer the chicken in the sauce for an additional 20 minutes or until thickened. You can add vegetables such as fresh green beans or quartered huisquil (chayote) if you like. Adjust the seasoning and serve.

How to Serve Pollo en Jocón – Guatemalan Chicken Tomatillo Stew

Pollo en jocon is a popular traditional Guatemalan dish

Garnish the jocón with slivers of green onion or a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. Then serve it with avocado wedges and spoonfuls of fluffy white rice.

Another option for serving jocón is to shred the chicken meat once it’s cooked, tuck it inside a tortilla, roll it and bake it smothered with the jocón sauce like an enchilada. To shred chicken or beef (for salpicon de res – another famous Guatemalan dish), cook until tender and then separate it into strands using two forks.

Tips for Making Jocón

The key to making sure jocón keeps its bright green colour is not to overcook the sauce.

Using fresh tomatillos will make the dish a brighter green than if you use canned tomatillos.

Add more jalapeno or serrano hot chiles to taste. But note that the traditional Guatemalan recipe for jocón makes a very mildly spicy dish.

Be sure to process the sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds until very fine. A coffee or spice grinder works well for this.

Properly stored, this chicken and tomatillo stew will last for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Tomatillos contain a natural pectin which means jocón will thicken as it cools.

Serve jocon with tortillas, white rice and avocado

You Might Also Enjoy these Easy Guatemalan Food Recipes:

If you enjoyed this recipe for pollo jocón, check out these easy Guatemalan recipes filled with the flavours of Latin America:

Dividing her time between Toronto, Mexico and Guatemala (or the nearest tropical beach), Michele Peterson is an award-winning writer, blogger, editor and publisher who specializes in travel, cuisine and luxury lifestyles.

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About Michele

Dividing her time between Canada, Mexico and Guatemala, Michele Peterson's work has appeared in Lonely Planet’s cookbook Mexico: From the Source , National Geographic Traveler, Fodor's, WestJet and more than 100 other publications.

Here at A Taste for Travel she travels the world scouting out the most fascinating food experiences to help readers plan their own vacations or create recipes at home. Her writing has been recognized with awards by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) and Destination Ontario.